The ghost woman and the hunter
by Small Dutch girl
Summary: Sometimes you think a story has ended when it is the beginning. Sakura has a big problem, struggling to find answers about her own existence she needs to save and protect Kakashi against an unknown enemy, one bent on killing both of them. She had to make her way through the den of the lion and gets help from and unexpected corner. Original Pandemonium.


**Just for once, Please read this! **

Some time ago I began Pandemonium, with every intention to finish it. I still have that intention though, only not in the way it goes now. Somehow I strayed from the path I wanted the story to take. And I strayed far. Far from the original concept I struggled and tried to make it how I wanted it, every word I wrote heavy and laden with doubt. Stubbornly I worked on it. Piece by piece until I realized that it wouldn't work.

You see I'm rather a perfectionist. I want to deliver work that is the best, or closed to, as I can manage. So while trying to save Pandemonium I began writing scenes, different kind of scenes both in and out the story. Some you'll read others you'll never see. But not only writing but also debating with myself (my colleagues are used to it when I'm suddenly calling things in the middle of conversation, or grabbing some piece of paper to write down a few keywords… though image the looks I got at the first few times….) and I began to understand more and more about the characters and their motives. I also understood that it would be a waste of time to continue Pandemonium as it is now.

This **is **the same story as Pandemonium was, only the way I intended it to be. Sakura's 'condition' is still the same as in Pandemonium, as is Kakashi. Every character I introduced there will return, even the yōkai part is still there. The big difference is the way I wrote it, the way the characters behave (slightly different at times) and the way the story is told.

I have doubted long and hard whether I would publish this one or try and continue the previous one, fearing that I would never really make it work as I wanted it to do.

Therefore… I hope you all forgive me for messing up my story before. And that you all enjoy this one too. Be kind and tell me what you think of this set-up.

Everyone who followed the previous Pandemonium… ** Thank you! ** I do hope you'll enjoy this one as much. 

* * *

_**Every story has a beginning and an end,**_

_**So does life.**_

_**But what if the end is actually the beginning? **_

_**The beginning of a life,**_

_**Far unknown of everything ever seen…**_

**Five years ago.**

_Hypovolemic shock_, Sakura diagnosed. _Extreme tachycardia with a weak pulse, pronounced tachypnea, significantly decreased systolic blood pressure. Skin is sweaty, cool, and extremely pale. Conscious is fading, causing confusion and even coma, if untreated death will follow soon._ She saw the words before her as they stood in one of her medical book at home. Unfortunately there was no treatment available at the moment, by lack of strength and equipment.

How many times hadn't she sat beside a bed? Many an hour where time stops, empty of thought, soothed by soul, looking into… what? Into something that had neither face nor name, but which seemed good to her, full of peace. If death lay there…

Death wasn't a stranger to her, not inside the hospital or outside. Life of a shinobi was unpredictable, you never knew if you'll return from a missions. Danger lay everywhere with death lurking around the corner, waiting patiently until time came.

Her back was pressed against something warm but she paid it no attention, nor did she felt the cold drops of rain water hitting her face. A voice flowed into her ears, words uncomprehending, a mystery her mind couldn't crack. They rolled over her, smoothing the anxiety. Instead of the words she concentrated on the voice, on the sound. The rise and fall of every word, the tone, the deep timbre. It sounded desperate and sad. She forced her eyes open. His face was still there, close to hers. Every line was clearly visible this close, even with her blurry gaze. She had to blink a few times to clear her vision.

_Hypovolemic shock_, the medic inside her said again, _if left untreated death will follow soon._

She'd tried to heal it, but it had been too much. To many wounds that needed immediate attention. Punctured long, a handful broken ribs and a served artery, add to it the many smaller wounds… It was done with a precise hand, done to kill and to be sure of death, even if there was no time to see it. Sakura closed her eyes again, she felt dizzy and very thirsty. To breath meant to draw hot flaming needless to her lung, a painful quest.

Forcing her eyes open she looked at him again. Her former teacher, her team leader and a trusted friend. The once so strong and fierce shinobi slumped on the ground now, holding her ragged body close to him, crying and not giving a damn whom were see it. Not that there was anybody around.

A smile trembled on her lips and she closed her eyes again.

* * *

**Present day.**

_He's so smug,_ Sakura though disgusted. She casually leaned against the wall of a tall brick building, her head bent slightly pretending to be waiting for somebody. Her eyes though, never left the man. He walked the tree steps of the small stair to his door. The silver of his key catch the sunlight and blinked up briefly before he put the key in the lock. It was dark inside and the man disappeared in the darkness, only the white of his shirt was visible as he wobbled further into the darkness. The door swung shut behind him, he never locked it.

She looked around; the street was deserted, not that many walked outside in this neighborhood. Even in full daylight it was gloomy. The whole neighborhood felt consumed by darkness, the shadows long and dark, and the houses old and dilapidated with gardens unkempt. A really nasty neighborhood. Sakura shook her head slightly, pushed herself away from the wall and walked up to the house. She had some business with the man.

She'd killed before, never for fun though. the more sick and depraved her targets were the better to her. Killing was an act of sin, a mortal one. not that she care now, scum who payed on the weak deserve a visit of death.

As expected the door opened after she pushed softly against it. The bastard got away with what he does for so long, he felt goddamned invisible. She crept through the hall, taking distantly in the peeling yellowish wallpaper, the worn carpet and the peeling paint from the doorpost. Soft sounds came from the kitchen and light spilled out from it. She walked further until she reached a slightly open door. She pushed it open careful, aware if it made any sound, it didn't. He kept the hinges of all his doors well, not surprising to her, the walls were thin in these kinds of houses. The door revealed a living room, a shade better than the hall. The bastard was educated, she saw. A huge bookcase filled with thick books dominated one side of the wall. A small television showed which way the interest goes clearly, save for the stash of videos under it. The two comfortable chairs finished the picture. Weren't they all educated? Manipulative sons of bitches were better words in her dictionary.

She'd met such of him before, was the victim of one such as he. She was a little over the age of six. What hurt the most is he was a blood relative. The dirty from which scum like him sprout from should have destroyed long, long time ago.

She left the living for what it was and walked until she reached the end of the hall. There was a well-kept door there. The hinges glinting in the light from the kitchen and the lock was fairly new. It was locked of course, can't have anyone walking inside with his honeys open on display. She opened her hip pouch and rummaged through it until she had the small brown leather case.

She got it last year from her partner, saying she really needed one when he wasn't around to open locked doors for her; he threw in a small course of lock-picking and was satisfied that she completed it in three week. She's taught on various locks and could open all most all locks by now, blind if needed. It was a real handy ability to have, especially when she couldn't smash the door like she usually did. It took her a few silent seconds, while keeping one ear on the noise from the kitchen, to unlock the door. She pushed the door open.

The feeling of those days flooded back. Six she was and the two boys here couldn't be much older. She walked to the middle of the room after she closed the door behind her, devolving the room back to the darkness. Small breathing sounds echoed from the plane concrete walls. But other than that the two boys were dead silent. She could see well in the darkness, even if there was no window or light on. Something she acquire after certain circumstances. They lay on the ground, inside a small cage like they were two dogs. A thin ragged blanked was there to keep them warm, futile, it had more holes than the cage bars had. Except for socks and a t-shirt they were naked. She pushed the feelings of the six year old Sakura angrily away. Enough wasting time, she tough sourly.

Footsteps came closer, a confident walk of a man who felt like a king in his own life. A click of the lock being unlocked echoed through the dark room and the door swung open. A soft anguish murmur rose from the two boys. She doubted he heard it. "Hello my lovelies, Uncle Sam is back," his voice was… disgusting was the only word she had for it. She stepped away from the wall, with his back at her he didn't see her, and slammed a small square paper on the back of his head. He uttered a short sound of surprise and begun to turn. Sakura took a step back until he was facing her and not the boys anymore. She couldn't help the small smile on her lips as his eyes grew wide when he saw her.

She was his death and he knew. "Hope it was worth it," she said softly and made a sign with her left hand. Game over.

Closing her jacked she stepped down the tree steps of the building and walked through the street. It's a small miracle what an improvised bomb could do to a human skull. They would be scraping parts of his skull throughout the room for weeks; well at least the kids are save now.

As to what happened to her blood relative? Let's just say he went… missing.

Trusting her hands in her pocked she looked up at the clear sky. It will be dark in a few hours. Police would be swarming here soon, and as usual they'll never find a clue as to who did it. Although the kill itself wasn't clean, there would be no evidence found to tie it to her. Just by the simple fact, she did not exist. Several religions condemn the act of killing, though she really wished they'd added an asterisk for certain situations. As things were this way, her eternal peace was called into question. Once she heard a scholar say that the key to redemption lay in remembrance. If that would mean she had to walk through hell to get to heaven, so be it.

* * *

**Five years ago.**

The woman sighed sadly after he took the sheet of the woman's face. He folded it neatly over her shoulders so all of her body except her head and shoulders was covered. Even in death he found she deserved his respect. She lay on the autopsy table, waiting for her turn with the coroner. Not that the cause of her death was unclear.

"This shouldn't have happened," the old woman beside him said softly. "She should have been protected, how could this have happened, Itachi?" She turned to face him. Even after years he's taken aback by her eyes. They were pitch black with a depth that seemed to suck him in, turn him over and examine his soul, in one blink. He wouldn't doubt if she had that kind of power.

"We're still trying to figure that out. The guards are missing and thus we have to find any trace of them."

The woman sighed and shook her head sadly. That she wasn't happy at all was no surprise to him. The young woman on the table before them died way too soon. In antithesis to him, she should have a future, probably a few kids, a house and whatnot. And that was also the problem, she died without children. Even if he didn't fully knew why that was important he knew that the old woman thought it was.

"There is really only one thing I can do at the moment," she begun. She laid her hand on the covered hand of the young woman. "She'll be one of the damned, but he may never know about this. I suppose you took care of it?" In fact he had. There was a small scroll in his hand and he lay in on the bed beside the woman's hand.

"It contains a seal to alter her appearance slightly. Probably enough so nobody will recognize her. It will wear out eventually, though. My guess is after a year of four maybe five." She took the scroll in her hand, weighting it and laid it back on bed.

"That will do. I trust you'll never tell her any of this? So far as she is concerned she'll be one of the damned. Granted a second life to redeem herself from past sins, just like you."

Although he wasn't really sure what 'any of this' was, he knew that the old woman knew he would find out eventually. Nodding he said he would keep quiet.

"There is another way, but I'll have to work her into that direction… If I manage that… tricky, but it wouldn't be the first time," she muttered more to herself than talking to him. "Tighten up the protection on_ him_, i do not want to see his face here to and find those two. I want to know if they are killed or defected." She turned her full attention back to the woman.

Itachi turned and walked to the door. There were a few things he had to do first before they would leave Konoha.

* * *

**Present day. **

Dimly she noted the plain before her. The wide field filed with nothing but grass and rocks with purple heather here and there. Small hills rolled onto the horizon where thick gray clouds gathered in rapidly. Flashes of light tore at the horizon and a low rumble rolled over the hills. Sakura jumped from the branch she just hopped on and ran through the knee long grass. It cut into her exposed legs and soon they were covered with shallows wounds. Blood soaked her boots and a part of her complained about her wearing shorts. She had no time to give it much thought though.

Her pursuer jumped from the last tree behind her and followed her into the grass. She jumped from rock to rock, sparing her legs as much as possible and the zigzag movement confused him slightly. At least he couldn't easily aim his seemingly undying stash of kunai at her like he did in the forest.

_Okay_, she though, working hard to stay calm, _we're far away now. How do I handle this?_

She wasn't running for fun with him after her, but felt the need to have as much distance between him and his real target as she could. The fact that his real target had been Kakashi was all the more unnerving. Certainly when she knew he lay in the forest, almost drained from his chakra and just a small step away from death. And I'm not going to let you die like that! She swore to herself and him in her mind.

Somewhere halfway the field she stopped. There was no real use to keep running if he was about to catch up to her any minute. And that was also the real problem, not only was he fast, he was way stronger than her. Add to it that the bastard loved killing and we have a real nice play.

"Come one, Sakura. Could we just stop running?" Slowly she turned around to face him. He stood a few steps back, showing no intention to attack her, yet. His overall body language was relaxed, something that put her more on edge. More unnerving was the fact that he knew her name.

"How do you know my name?" she asked him.

"How? Come on Sakura dear, don't you remember?" he coaxes. Blinking her eyes she looked blankly at him. True she'd forgotten quite some names throughout the last few years, but his face was something she surely would have remembered, even if it was only by the large ugly scar that ran from his left temple down his cheek, crossed his chin and ended halfway his neck, just before hitting an artery. Someone who afflicted it to him had meant to kill him.

"I guess you don't," he sighed. He acted like he was disappointed about it, his shoulders slumped a bit and he let his head hang slightly, shaking in bereft of something precious. The first rain drops started to fall. The weather, not taking kindly of being ignored, called attention by throwing a lightning into the grass close by. The smell of burning grass and ozone burned into her nose. She jumped up startled by the loud clap that followed soon, but the man before her didn't as much as flinch. "Anyway it seems we're in an impasse. I want to kill him, and you don't want me to. It's quite a dilemma," he said further ignoring the weather.

Sakura looked up at the sky. The floodgates of the heaven opened fully, showering them with a downpour that soaked her within seconds. The lightning and thunder played tag, following each other in rapid moves. The thunder wasn't as close yet, but it was approaching fast. Dread filled her. She stood in the middle of a field with only low plantation. As she stood she would serve as a lightning rod, an unappealing thought.

"Why him?" Danger or not, she had to know. Kakashi never showed up on the list. Why would he? He wasn't once of such. He'd killed, wounded and did other things, but evil? There was hardly a shred of pure darkness in his heart.

"That my dear is simple to answer. He wants him death." The man crossed his arms in a content look. His pose hadn't changed, even being soaked and a thunderstorm sped forwards he stayed relaxed. It seemed like the more he was relaxed the more on edge she was.

Sakura shook her head. "Why?" she asked, it didn't make sense. The rumble grew louder and she cast a quick glance at the sky again.

"Why? I don't care. He wants it he gets it. Quite simple. Though I'm hesitant to add, but loving the results already. His coming death is your fault, really." Sakura looked at him, and looked. Her mouth opened and closed. How could it be her fault? She hadn't seen him in five years, heck she erased him and all from the village from her memory, well she tried and when it didn't work she boxed them and stored it in the very far corner of her mind.

"Oh I'm sure you're wondering how you can be responsible for his death, I'm I right?" Baffled she could only nod. He looked awfully pleased with himself but she hadn't mind to pay it much attention, eager to hear the answer.

"Well it's quite easy dear, you should have stayed death." Blood drained from her face when the meaning hit her square in the face. Kakashi would be killed because she had a second change? That was… crazy to say at least. It hadn't really been her choice to come back and… She shook her head again, it didn't make any sense. No it was worse… how could he be held responsible for the fact that she still walked the face of the earth?

"I don't get it," she voiced her confusion, "I mean, how can you kill Kakashi for such a thing, why does El want him death, only because I got a second change? I don't get it."

"You don't have to," he said confident of himself. A smirk lay on his face, he loved to see her confused and that was something she didn't get either. He acted like they knew each other, but they didn't, she was sure of that.

"If you know, tell me," she commanded. Her angers sprang to life, she wanted answers and she wanted them now!

"Don't go imagine things dear, I have no idea about the whole reason why El wants what El wants. All I know is, he got angry after finding out you had a second change and ordered me to kill him. Though hiding for five years? Quite an achievement, must be the hand of that raven boy." She looked at him but said nothing. His body changed slightly, she would have missed it if she hadn't been eying his careful, expecting something every second. He wouldn't attack, not yet, but he was close. Sakura mentally prepared herself for it. "Anyway we still have to solve this problem. I have a fine solution though." Sakura arched an eyebrow in question but said nothing. "You want answers, I want my mission done. You give me him and I'll take you personally to El. He's the only one with all the answers you seek." He smiled rather smug at his so called solution.

"What a load of crap," Sakura said furious. "You honestly think I'm going to allow you kill Kakashi? You're out of your mind."

She blinked taken aback. One second he stood there the next he was gone. Air exploded out of her lungs. Confused she noticed grass before her eyes. Wheezing to get some air in her lungs she scrambled on all fours. Her mind, usually fast, hung some place where she stood and where she lay on the ground, because she couldn't comprehensive why she was on the ground fighting for air. Her question was answered soon though, when a pair of black boots with silver iron buckles appeared before her. Before she could understand why they were there one disappeared. It came back fast, connected with her stomach and sent her flying before she could even blink.

Her back hit the ground once before the tumbled down a hill. Tangled in her own limps she lay breathing on the ground, back or front, she didn't knew where each was. The panic she'd tried to subdue ever since she heard that Kakashi was in danger broke free. It slithered up her spine and clouded her mind and judgment with fear and panic. The lightning struck a hill close behind her and she screamed when she felt the earth rumbled by the impact. She rolled over, untangling herself, and worked herself on all fours, determined to get away from this hellish place. Her eye caught a tall dark figure on top of the hill she'd just tumbled down from, at first the though him to be somebody else and relieve washed over her, until lightning illuminated his face and she could see the scar clearly again. Her relief died out, leaving her shakily and robbed from the last of her strength the panic had given her. Scared or not, she couldn't tore away her eyes from him, something was odd.

Small insects hurried past her, a rabbit jumped by, too late to have found shelter it had hidden itself behind a rock. Everything seemed to slow down. Sakura blinked once and realized distantly that the rain had stopped. Her eyes were still on him glued. Maybe it was because she lay between the hills, on a low point, that the wind didn't reach her but she could see it clearly pulling at his clothes. In fact she could see him clearly, every fold of his clothes, the buttons on his shirt, even the lines on his face and she strands of his hair. She blinked again, unsure of what she saw was real or just an illusion made by her own fear. His eyes were wide, dilated until the white was gone and his mouth hung open.

Then he felt and felt forward until hit the ground with a loud smack. She never heard the thunder, but then again she heard nothing until that smack, and even then she wasn't sure she actually heard it or her mind made that sound, to fill the eerie silence that hung around her. Detached from herself she wondered since when she wasn't hearing anything. Must been since the last thunder shook the earth close by. Silence was a big word for it actually. She did hear something, a loud ring that went on and on in her head. She merely wondered if her hearing would ever come back or if she had to continue with a ring in her ears.

Her mind pierced the pieces together before she could think it. Her body started to rock uncontrollably and she felt face forward into the wet grass and mud. She gritted her teeth, trying to stop it and to relax her muscles. The man lay face down on the grass, his limp sprawled and stiff, unmoving in the beating of the wind that pulled at his clothes and hair. The rain fell again, harder as trying to make up for the pause it had. Hail joined, hitting hard on her head and body. She'd probably have a few bruises more tomorrow by it.

Closing her eyes she commanded her body to relax, her breath to become regular and her mind to calm down. She had to get out of here and running in panic wasn't going to help. Opening one eye she looked at him, but he hadn't moved. The lightning had probably killed him when it struck him. Part of her mind still refused it, but her eyes had seen it happen. That bright threat of pure electricity that shoot down from the gray clouds, piercing his heart. The image was burned on her retina. She doubted she'll forget it for a long time.

_Kakashi!_

Shot through her mind in red warning letters. How could she have forgotten him? She made a movement to stand up, thought better of it when the sky lighted up with another lightning. Sighing she crouched past the hills, always staying between them where, she hoped, the lightning wouldn't hit her.

It took her a long time to get to the forest, and another long time to find the place where she left Kakashi. She'd lost all sense of time and with the heavy overcast it was impossible to see the sun. Tired she walked onto the small clearing and looked around. At first she couldn't find him at all and she ran around the clearing in fear, until she saw a figure lying under a fallen tree. It had been made into a shelter once long ago but the roof still held most of the rain outside, providing him a relatively dry and save shelter.

Relieved of having found him she walked closer and crouched beside it. No movement came from his little hideout and worry rose again. He had been in a dire state when she left him, but she refused to think him death. He lay curled under the trunk, mostly dry save for some wet patches on his arms and legs. He had his eyes closed, but the steady rise and fall of his chest reassured her. Probably too exhausted to care anymore he had crawled under the tree and fallen asleep.

She watched him for some time, shivering in her wet clothes, before she stood up and looked around carefully. The rain had subdued during her walk back to find him and the water that dripped down was from the trees only. The sky still rumbled and flashed now and them but the major of the storm had passed, this was just the last struggling bit of it, unwilling to pass. She gave herself a look over, from her muddy shoes, to her legs covered with dry blood, mud and red scratches. There was a tear in her shorts and her shirt was also ready for the garbage. After five years of absence she would face him looking like a tramp, not that he would appreciate it she was dressed like a princess, but still. Sighing she sat down, it wouldn't really matter how she looked, she'd been dead for him for five years.

Literally.

There was only one thing she could do now, make a fire. Instead of doing so she crawled under the tree and sat beside him. There was simply no energy left inside her to even keep her eyes open and soaked or not, she needed some sleep.

"Sakura?" She slowly woke up from the depths of exhausted sleep, struggled to comprehend where she was. She was cold, but she couldn't understand why. Groping around for her blankets she realized her legs burned hotly. And why smelled her room of wet soil, trees, leaves and wet human? Slowly the haze lifted and with every pause she remembered where she was.

"You're Sakura, right?" The voice that woke her drove the remaining of the haze away and she was fully awake.

"Kakashi," she said, turning her head fast, regretting when her muscles protested and turned her body more slowly. Every muscle ached and every movement felt like dragging lead. "Are you okay? How do you feel?" she asked, running her eyes over him, he looked fine, wounded and tired but fine overall.

"So I died?" he asked slowly. It would have been impossible to press any words out her throat, not with a lump the size of an apple in the way. "I never thought to feel pain in dead," he said after she stayed silent.

"You're not dead," she said softly, not looking at him but at the mud on her legs. They were really dirty.

"Good, it would be wrong to feel pain while being dead," he said. From the corner of her eyes she saw that he worked himself up until he leaned on his elbows with his back from the ground and was looking at her. She couldn't see his expression and didn't dare to turn.

_I feel pain every goddamn day,_ she though a spark of anger flaring up. She pushed those thoughts away, it was not his fault. He couldn't know that those words would hit the wrong spot.

"So… I'm not dead, you are Sakura… there is only one answer as to why I see you." Sakura held her breath and waited until she told her the answer. "You are an illusion."

Her breath left her in an explosion. "Excuse me? An illusion?" she asked unbelieving her ears.

"Sure, the only answer. It's not like this is the first time. Only this time it feels different…" he wondered.

He rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn't shaved in a few days and the stubble made a rasping sound. She'd avoided her eyes when he pulled it down earlier and still it felt odd to look at him without it. As it was without his hitai-ate. He'd lost it apparently, the absence brought an odd feeling by her. Strange as she hadn't one in five years and had never been really away of its absence. Still it felt wrong to see him without it, vulnerable.

As dignified as she could she crawled from under the tree and stood up. "If you'll excuse this illusion for leaving you temporary to gather some wood for a fire, I would be most obligate. If you hadn't noticed before, it's rather cold now that the storm has passed." Without waiting for an answer she turned and stalked away. Only when she was a good deal away from him she slowed down.

"An illusion, can you believe it? An illusion!" she fumed. She ran her hands through her hair, pulling at the knots made by the mud. Angrily she wiped the tears away that sprung in her eyes from the pain from pulling at her hair, or so she told herself. She stomped around a good bit, releasing her anger without damaging anything, for the small plants and insects under her boots.

Her anger subdued slowly and after a while she looked around. Her stomach rumbled, telling her it's been a long time since breakfast. No way around it, she had to gather some foot and find some wood to burn.

It took het an hour to catch two rabbits and find enough wood to burn a decent fire. Dry was a keyword and a rarity in a forest where a thunderstorm just raged, but she found enough small twigs to start a decent fire, add the kindling in her pouch. Now there was just one thing left, to go back to where Kakashi was. For some reasons she was reluctant to go back and she didn't know why. Well she did, but she didn't want to think about it. If she was honest she would admit that seeing him took a lot more on her than she'd thought. And if she did she would admit that she felt more for him than she would ever tell. If she did, but she didn't. so she lingered behind the trees, hidden from his sight, until her stomach made it clear it needed foot, and it needed it now!

Tossing the game in his direction, followed with a short clean it please' she bent to work on the fire. It was her hair that prevented her from seeing his face. Bent forward it fell in her face and she never really saw the surprise on his face when he touched the rabbits. Thus misunderstanding his question.

"They are real," he said in total surprise. Her head came up annoyed. The fire almost burned and she wouldn't forgive him if his distraction put it out. It was enough trouble already trying to lit wet wood.

"Of course it is," she snapped. "What did you expect, stuffed animals?" careful she shoved the kindling, fully burning now, under the twigs and softly blew at it when it treated to go out.

"No of course not. It's just… if you are an illusion than the game would too," he said, carefully picking words.

"Well the game is real. You have a hunting knife with you?" Her hand lay on hers, but she wouldn't give it him only if he had none with him. Knives were, unlike regular kunai, precious to her and the only reason she would hand one over was only by no other choice. Grunting she saw him shake his head. Pulling her knife she tossed it sighing. "Take good care of it," she informed him, "the knife is important to me." It was, in face, a gift he gave her years ago and the odd look on his face when he took the knife told her he'd know. He didn't say anything though, just went to work cleaning the game. She could see the strain it took on him. Sweat pearled on his forehead and he was with around the lips. Not that he said a word during his job. No he was silent but she could see the thoughts behind his eyes clear as sky. He was thinking and relating as hard as he could. Soon her window of opportunity would close, if it ever stood open at all.

Taking a deep breath she started to tell.

"Although I don't really know the circumstances anymore I died five years ago. I've always been a ninja of the village of Konoha, still feel that way even if I don't live there no more." She didn't look at him, her eyes locked on the burning twigs. She took a large piece of wood and laid it careful on the fire. Slowly the flames begun eating at the wood, burning the water in it and creating small quantity of condenses. It sizzled when the water cooked inside the wood and snapped when the wood heated enough to burn. Other than that there were no sounds around them. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath, waiting eagerly for the outcome of the small battle taking place on the clearing. A battle not one of them knew the stakes, but important they were.

"Grandmother Okori gave me a second change. She granted me the power to make right that was wrong, in other words to redeem myself. We are cast away, the shadows of society, damned to wander about before finding peace. At least that is what were are told. It's not really true, I wasn't a shadow. No matter how tough live has been, I've never been a shadow nor was I the center, but I counted, you know. Well I tell myself I counted." She looked up briefly and saw he was done with the game. Cleaned and all it lay waiting before him. She had two thick sticks, one for every rabbit. Standing up she walked around the fire, scooping up the game and walking back to her place without looking at him, let alone touch him. Piercing both rabbits onto a stick she stuck one end into the ground so that the rabbit hung beside the fire. Not her favorite way of preparing meat but it was fast and that was what counted now.

"You are never really sure you do count, do you?" the question was rhetoric and she didn't wait for an answer. "Our sole mission is to hunt the evil in all its shapes. Upon finding it we are supposed to kill it, thus sending it back to Hell, where it came from. By doing so we can redeem ourselves." She fell silent, staring into the fire and pretending she was alone. It was a sentence she'd heard her partner use at her. After a while she heard him taking in breath sharply.

"So you died, got a second change by an old lady in order to fight evil?" he surmised it. She nodded. "Well I don't believe it!" She looked up startled. He was looking at her, his eyes set on his decision. Well it hadn't worked on her either. He cleaned the knife on a piece of cloth from his pouch and sheathed it in an empty sheath he carried in his pouch. "You have no right to handle her knife. I'm keeping it." She would get her knife back, she was sure of it. It all just took a little bit more time than she thought. Hopefully not as long as it took her to believe it.

Sitting on the other side of the fire, well away from him, she had the change to study him while pretending to look into the flames. He hadn't changed much but it's only been five years. Suddenly she could see another fire in another camp. The laughter that would usually rose around it. She could hear Naruto and Sai arguing about something ridiculous, vivid as if they were sitting beside them, the rustle of pages turning as Kakashi tried to read his beloved book by the fading daylight. And she realized with a sudden longing that those days would never return.

Perhaps, she thought while turning her face away from the fire, it's better to forget.

xxxxx

A bird was singing close to his window, pulling him from his concentration. Putting his pen down he shoved his chair back and stood up. Slowly he walked to the window. He took some birdseed from the small basket on the ground beside the window and laid his hand half open on the windowsill just outside. While waiting for the bird to land on his hand he looked at the garden. They were all in full bloom and painted the garden in red, yellow, orange, pink, purple and many other shades of color. A pond lay in the middle of it, glittering as small sunlight's danced on the surface. The water was smooth, nothing stirred in the deep dark depths of it. The weeping willow that grew beside it with its branches close to the water surface, swayed slightly in the breeze.

Leaves swirled in a sudden gust of wind, making the pond ripple and the flowers sway heavily. It stopped as soon as it started, leaving the garden behind silent.

The bird had landed on his hand and was eating from the seeds. Slowly his fingers curled around the small delicate body. Feeling the soft feathers under his fingers he smiled and closed his hand strongly, pressing with his thump at the neck until it gave away under the pressure. Reaching out further he dropped the lifeless bird. It fell softly on the ground under the window without making any sound, joining the four other birds.

Silence once again emerges on the garden.

"You'd expected them to have any sense of self-preservation, yet they let themselves killed so easily." He brushed his hand at his tunic and turned around. A tall black man stood before the door, calmly waiting until he gave him attention.

"I suppose sir," he remarked, taking cautious not to show any emotions. That wasn't all that hard for him, born a killer he died a killers death, violent. It was one of the reasons why he'd chosen him.

"You are going to tell me Jin has failed." His voice was smooth, flowing through the room, lulling the senses, made to drop others defenses.

"I am, sir. The man Hatake Kakashi's still alive."

"Yes, yes," he said slightly impatient, waiving his hand to dismiss those words. "I already know. That woman tried to save him, but nature took him out." He walked slowly back to his desk but didn't sit down. He placed his hands on the smooth dark surface and leaned over it, reading one of the papers on it. "That woman should have died long ago. How can it be she's still here?" he talked to himself, forgotten the man by the door. There was no sound in the house save for the occasional pop and creak. The man at the door stood motionless, paying no heed to it. If it was his choice the man could forget about him all together, he didn't though.

"Fetch Hisoka for me. I have a little mission for him." The tall black man turned but was stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "Is he still in confinement?"

"That he is, sir." The man dismissed him with a flick of his hand and he walked away, relieved.

Close to ten minutes the door opened to reveal a blond haired man. He entered the room casually, his green eyes sweeping through the room before settling on the man behind the desk.

"You wished to see me?" Hisoka bowed slightly, more formal than polite. The man behind the desk knew that perfectly, but then he didn't expect a mere killer to be any polite or sociable. Hisoka wasn't both. Born to hate society he was perfect for his later call. Thinking only about himself he had over twenty dead on his name, without being a ninja or having any skill.

He would never recruit a man like that, if Hisoka hadn't already proved his worth, and for that he was willing to let any rudeness slip.

"Haruno Sakura, you're familiar with that name, are you not?" he placed his elbow on top of the desk and folded them. Leaning his head on top of his hands he studied the man before his desk. Suited for the call.

"Haruno Sakura? I believe she died years ago," Hisoka replied.

"She did, I saw to that personally and yet she walks around, again!" any other man would have flinched under the angry stare the man give him, any other man, not him. Hisoka looked back unblinking.

"Maybe she's saved somehow?" It was that he didn't bode well with authority, or else he would have thought twice before saying something like that. In his eyes anyone he was working for better should be grateful he did.

"Not even a medic of her caliber could have stopped the bleeding in time." He brushed a hand through his hair and dropped his hands flat on the desk. "No that bitch would have had a hand in it." A bird begun singing outside in the garden. Without any change on his face he stood up and begun the whole process of beckoning the bird. "Kill them both," he said after a while dropping the bird.

* * *

**TBC **


End file.
